Mouthpiece for wind musical instruments



July 18, 1950 R. H. LA VELLE 2,515,411

MOUTHPIECE FDR WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed March 13, 1947 Wll? INVENTOR.

fl ifazwey Patented July 18, 1950 MOU'THPIEGE FOR WIND'" MUSICAL i INSTRUMENTS Ronald H. Ila vellejWilkinsburg', Pa.

"'- Application-March 13, 1947-,-Serial No. 734,413

(01. s r-F398) 6 ,Claims.

.. 1..This invention relates tomouth pieces for wind amusical instruments. and :more in .particular to 1 such 1 mouth pieces uwhich: are .used: bynplayers ....for-.practicing .without producing a. sound or cnoise thatrmight annoy. others.

Up to date the mouth piecesior brass -instru ments consist'e'dofuani annular rim-portion which .1. the playenconta'ctedwith his lips and an adjoin- '---ing convex-concavely i curvedcup portion merging into a tubularstem tobe inserted into the -instrument... Thecup portion conducts the vibrating air stream, flowing through the central hole of-the -rim,-into the stem whichleads it into the-musicaloinstrument. -While such conventional-mouth pieee serves the purposeduring the musical performance, it has twodisadvantages --for the'purposesof study and practice. The first disadvantage of the conventionalmouth piece is that-its cup-covers the players mouth adjacent tothelowerlip and'thereby prevents the visual observation by the instructor or player (from a -mirror) "the mouth" formation or-"embouchure the proper formation of which is'very important for the "development of the involved muscles and "'iorachieving-the desired tone effect as well.

The-"seconddisadvantage is that with the conventional mouthpiece the'instrument will produce sounds at full intensity during-practice which is undesirable in a dwellinghouse, hotel or other" place lacking special"soundinsulation "making the unavoidable practicing "by every musician a nuisance to nearby'people, exposing the player to lawsuits and barring him from being acceptedas a'tenant at"su.itable locations.

Myinvention' obviatesthese and other drawbacks by providing a mouth piece havingnocup but'being equipped with relatively thin spacer means holding the rim portion and the stem together in spaced apart relationship.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a mouth piece for brass instruments, such as trumpets, cornets, mellophones, alto horns, French horns, trombones etc. which may be used for practicing and visually studying the iormation of embouchure and action of the lips and those of the muscles of the mouth without producing a-sound or noiseaudible from a relatively short distance suchas from an adjoining room.

.,-Another object of my invention is to provide a cupless practice mouth piece for brass instruments in which the lip contacting rim is-spaced 2 space through which air. and light may pass radially with negligible impediment.

Another object is to provide a cupless practice .mouth piece in'which the lip contactingrim and the-stem areheld together in. spaced apart relationship by. relatively thinbraces.

A further object is toprovide ,adevice of the character described in which the; braces, holding together the rimand the stem in spaced apart relationshinare equipped with ridges and dales serving as fingerholds.

,..Still another object of the invention is to provide a mouth piece whichmay be used to develop the lip muscles andembouchure without producing a. sound or noise audible from a relatively short distance.

.Another object of the invention iszthat the same can be used without theinstrument, by holding themouth piece with the fingers of either hand, or it.:may he used in connection with the L instrument byinserting the same into the instru- -ment,'.-thereby.producing a natural feeling of holding'and: playing the instrument while practicing.

Yetanother object of the invention is to visually provide a mouth piece for practicing a-wind instrument which will greatlysassist the instructor or student to study the formationand action oi the movement ofthe lips or embouchure, while playing.

, Anotherobiect of the. invention is to provide a mouth piece for practicing which will enable the teacheror student, the latter by looking in a mirror, to readily observe the formation of .embouchure while practicing.

Still anotherobject of the present invention is toprovide a mouth piece for practicing which i .may be-used in connection with any wind instrument using a detachable mouth piece without altering the musical instrument.

Further-objects of. the invention are to provide a device of the class set ..forth which is simple inrits construction and arrangement,

efiicient in itsuse, readily attached and inexpensive to manufacture.

To-theaccomplishment of these. and such other objects as may hereafter appear the inven- "tion consists of the novel constructionand arl rangementv herein specifically described. and

apart from the'stem lay-relatively thin spacer meansdefining' between rim and stem a free illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to which come 4 within the scope ofthe claimshereunto appended.

In the drawings -whereln like numerals oi reference designate identical parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a front view of a practicing mouth piece for brass wind instruments in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a side view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top view of Figure 1.

Obviously, the mouth piece I herewith describe is not intended to, and cannot, replace the well known conventional mouth pieces now in use, but the same is intended to be used for practicing and especially at times and places where it would be undesirable to practice an instrument with a regular mouth piece.

Referring 'now to the drawing, the reference numeral H] indicates, in general, the improved practicing mouth piece comprising a centrally apertured, relatively thin portion ll, against which the player presses his lips and which may be of any regular contour and size as far as its external face I2 is concerned to which the player is accustomed, in other words, the exterior surface of the rim portion of the practicing mouth piece and centralvaperture l4 might be of the same shape and size as the players conventional mouth piece, so that both mouth pieces will fit the lips or embouchure and feel comfortable to the player.

The stem portion'l3 is adapted to be inserted in the instrument to be 'played and may be solid or tubular, as showmhaving a bore I5. This stem portion I3 is connected to the rim portion II by means of a pair of oppositely spaced, elongated and substantially narrow braces l6, preferably'integral therewith, but, of course, the rim portion II and the shank portion l3 may be separate pieces fastened, welded, soldered or brazed together permanently.

It is'important that the braces l6 are relatively thin so as not to obstruct the view of the observer while practicing. It will be noted that due to the novel construction of the mouth piece, which includes the relatively thin rim l l' and the relatively thin braces IE, it is possible for the teacher or student (with the aid of a mirror) tionship establishing a free space between said to readily observe the lip formation and action or movement of embouchure.

portions for substantially unobstructed radial passage af airflow and light.

2. A practice mouth piece for wind instruments comprising an apertured rim portion provided with a lip contacting face and a stem portion adapted for insertion into a brass wind instrument, relatively thin braces rigidly fixed to said portions for. holding them together in axially spaced apart relationship establishing a free space between said portions for substantially unobstructed radial passage of airflow and light.

3. A practice mouth piece for wind musical instruments comprising a centrally apertured rim provided with a lip contacting face and a stem portionadaptedfor insertion in the brass wind instrument,.,relatively thin braces rigidly fixed ,to said portions for holding them together in axially spaced apart relationship establishing a. free space between said portions for substantially unobstructed radial passage of airflow and light, the external surfaces of said braces carrying ridges and dales serving as fingerholds.

4. A practice mouth piece for wind musical instruments comprising a centrally apertured rim portion, a stem portion adapted for insertion into abrass wind instrument, a pair of relatively thin braces arranged diametrally opposite to each other and rigidly fixed to said portions for holding them together in axially spaced apart relationship establishing a free space between said portions for substantially unobstructed radial passage of airflow and light, the external sur- The outer. surfaces of the braces It are proinvented device makes it possible that the formation of the mouth and lips or the embouchure may be visually observed thereby greatly facilitating the building up of the mouth and lip muscles and the proper. formation of the embouchure.

faces of said braces carrying ridges and dales serving as fingerholds.

5. A cupless" mouthpiece for wind musical instruments to be substituted for the usual mouth- .p'iece'during practice comprising an annular rim having substantially the size and shape of the rim of the usual mouthpiece for which it is to be substituted, a tubular shank portion for Though I have shown the spacer means holdinstance, may be curved to'equal the curvature of the'regular mouth piecethe musician or pupil uses 9n his regular instrument,

insertion intothe mouth pipe of the instrument and connecting means'b'etween said rim and said shank providing when in use 'a'substantially unobstructed view "of the embouchure of the musician.

6. A cupless mouthpiece of the type claimed in claim 5 in which the connecting means is a pair of opposed members in the shape of segmerits of'the'cupof the usual mouthpiece.

; RONALD H. LA VELLE.

REFERENCES orrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

